Human Love - A Novel

Andreï Makine

Sinopse

“A haunting, often very tender story written in a kind of meditative fury . . . Makine has written one of the best novels about Africa in a long time” (The Guardian). Love for another person. Love for humanity as a whole. Are the two compatible or mutually exclusive? In his most ambitious novel since Dreams of My Russian Summers, Andreï Makine takes us into the heart of Africa. His hero is Elias Almeida, a black revolutionary whose father was killed when Elias was still a child, and whose mother, to feed him, was forced to prostitute herself. Saved from death by a Catholic priest, Elias becomes a brilliant pupil destined for greatness. However, the memory of his parents turns him into an important cog in the worldwide revolutionary movement, sending him to Cuba and the Soviet Union to be trained for espionage and sabotage. He begins in his native Angola, still struggling to liberate itself from the colonial yoke, and moves to other political hot spots. But what happens when a black revolutionary dedicated to bettering the world falls in love with a white woman who wants only to live a peaceful, simple life? “[A] powerful meditation on the price of ideology and the nature of love.” —The Daily Mail “Makine’s prose . . . injects a sense of beauty into even the most horrific descriptions of depravity . . . This, his tenth novel, is a movement toward hope.” —Foreword Reviews “Andreï Makine has witnessed history transform his country. His sombre, perceptive fiction reflects each ebb and flow; his quiet voice is unique. Even here, in one of his minor works, he again articulates the profundity of human experience—no small feat.” —The Irish Times

Disponível desde: 31/10/2011.

Outros livros que poderiam interessá-lo

A Thin Line

Anna Charles

Harriet Parker receives a letter out of the blue from her dead mother, demanding her presence in Amsterdam. The letter hints at a family secret that has lain buried for decades. Feeling compelled to delve into her family history, Harriet finds herself sucked into a tale of treachery and lies in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. As she puts her life on hold to probe her family background Harriet begins to question all she holds true. What makes a good person? Where does collaboration begin and end? Do the ends justify the means? When she starts to feel the repercussions of her research in the present day, Harriet realises what she’s got herself into – and wonders if she should have left well alone. A Thin Line is inspired by true events.

Ver livro

That Quiet Earth - A First World...

Bruce Fellows

George Bridge has a secret, a wrong he did a lifetime ago that he must confess. Back in the summer and autumn of 1918 he lived life at a pitch he never experienced again; any moment could have been his last. He was a pilot in the RAF.Day after day, George and his friend Billy Love fight for their lives. Just nineteen, they have everything to live for, but flying three miles above France, its kill or be killed and machine guns, Fokkers and a long burning fall haunt their dreams.At home their families wait; and so do their girls. Billy loves Jessica. Constance loves George. But who does George love?Then Billy flies into history and nothing is ever the same again.That Quiet Earth is rich in the kind of 'boys own' descriptions of combat that characterise this kind of fiction, but underlying the novel is an astute study of madness; the insanity of the war itself and the personal decline of tormented young Billy Love.As featured on BBC Radio Bristol and Clifton Life Magazine.

Ver livro

Train Dreams - A Novella

Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson's Train Dreams is an epic in miniature, one of his most evocative and poignant fictions. 
Robert Grainer is a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century—an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime.  
Suffused with the history and landscapes of the American West—its otherworldly flora and fauna, its rugged loggers and bridge builders—the new novella by the National Book Award-winning author of Tree of Smoke captures the disappearance of a distinctly American way of life.A Macmillan Audio production.

Ver livro

A Dubious Legacy - A Novel

Mary Wesley

A “darkly comic, wise and irresistible” novel of friendship, romance, and the chaos in between, from one of Britain’s bestselling authors (Publishers Weekly).   When Henry Tillotson comes back from the war with a mysterious new bride from Egypt, everyone is intrigued. But intrigue turns to outright confusion when his new wife retreats to her room and refuses to leave her bed, much less the house, stranding poor Henry in a loveless marriage.   Antonia and Barbara are captivated by Henry and his lavish country estate, Cotteshaw, from the very first time they are asked to visit for a dinner party with their boyfriends. Drawn by his charm, his wife’s madness and beauty, and his unusual lifestyle, they cannot help but be intrigued by their host.   But as time passes, their relationships grow and change, bringing weddings, engagements, children, and even the occasional illicit liaison—as the strange heritage of Cotteshaw begins to affect all who pass through its doors.   Wesley once again proves herself a master of the modern novel of manners in this energetic tale that is simultaneously laugh-out-loud funny, outrageously irreverent, and poignant.   “As always, the dialogue snaps with vigor. . . . Another bright and biting novel.” —Kirkus Reviews

Ver livro

Hannah From Loam Hill

Marjorie R. Smith

In the rugged Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, seventeen-year-old Hannah Mills plans her entire life around love. The young heroine of Hannah from Loam Hill is determined to meet her true love and raise a family. But for Hannah, fate has a different set of plans. Paralyzed after a terrifying ordeal in the woods, the innocent girl is suddenly forced to face life from the steel prison of a wheelchair. Soon Hannah must fight not just her own demons of despair and loneliness, but join her family in a struggle to survive poverty and the aftermath of war. The Mills family proudly bears the pain and worry when Hannah’s brothers are drafted to fight in World War II. Hannah finds comfort in writing to GIs fighting far away on the battlegrounds of Europe. Yet despite promises of new love, Hannah soon finds that emotional wounds are often deeper than physical ones as she meets soldiers devastated by the effects of combat. Will Hannah ever be able to find love, or will her disability stand in the way of her dreams?

Ver livro

Southbound to Angel Island

H. L. Dowless

In this novel, a dangerous journey on stormy seas leads a man to an island where the past of the United States lives on.The America of the past was extraordinary. Today, unfortunately, it has descended into debauchery and chaos. The government has turned on its citizens and erected a political inquisition to replace legitimate rule of law based upon hard facts. Economic excellence for the masses is forbidden, contrary to the nation’s individualist past.A splendid, yet elusive, island lies in the southern seas where the America of the past still resides. For more than three-hundred years, individuals have longed for it, adventurers have died for it, and here we find those who have actually found it.Between the pages of this book, you will discover your place inside this wonderful land of glorious achievement . . .or will you?

Ver livro